Your Say: Thursday, June 15, 2017

Wind farms

IT’S GOOD to see that plans are afoot for new wind farms in the far North-West to add to our already cleanest electricity in Australia (The Examiner, May 23).

Not quite so pleasing to see that there are also plans for a second power cable to Victoria. Shouldn’t we think Tasmania first and connect Flinders Island to the Tomahawk Wind Farm and King Island to a proposed Robbins Island Farm before thinking of another Basslink? Maybe, using a bit of logic, a King Island cable could connect Cape Wickham to Cape Otway, a mere 80 kilometres away.

Leigh Clark, Burnie.

Cost of waste

IT’S GREAT that the world is waking up to the horrendous cost of the waste that appears to be part of modern, Western lives. Food thrown out for no better reason than it was ‘left over’ at the end of the day or a ‘use-by’ date was pending.

And vegetables and fruit that never leave the farmer’s field because of some blemish or failure to meet strict requirements. We all know the above rejects are perfectly fine to eat and are beginning to do something about it.

Those groups engaged in this waste elimination need our support. An extension of their efforts should ensure all in our communities are adequately fed. And a plea to all: Next time you order a takeaway coffee, provide your own reusable mug and so reduce the millions of plastic coffee cups cluttering our environment – you’ll soon learn which are the coffee shops supportive of this

Dick James, Launceston.

A new democracy

POLITICIANS are no longer leaders. They are generally behind public opinion on issues such as climate change, marriage equality, voluntary euthanasia and drug laws.

This has resulted because political parties are able to receive donations from big business and lobby groups in order to get elected. We need a democracy where decisions are agreed on by members of the community, not by politicians.